On Pentecost, fifty days after the Resurrection, the Christian church was gathered together in one place. Then, there were 120 believers in the world; now there are about 2.2 billion.

Acts 2: 3-4 says: “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

The lesson makes it clear that people from all over the world heard these Galileans speaking in every known human language of the world. So, this is clearly different from people who speak in a divine prayer language that is generally unknown. Acts describes people who did not know foreign languages speaking in known foreign languages. The religious practice of “speaking in tongues” is uttering a divine language that is not a natural human language. Technically, what happened in Acts is known as “xenolalia” or “xenoglossy”– speaking in a natural language that is not known by the speaker. Speaking in tongues as practiced in many religions is “glossolalia” – which according to The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology is “the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice in which it is believed to be a divine language unknown to the speaker.”

St. Paul clearly considers “speaking in tongues” a spiritual gift. (1 Cor 12:28-30). But Paul lists it at the bottom of spiritual gifts. At one point, he says “Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” (1 Cor 14:13-19)

This is not to dismiss the spiritual gift of tongues and their interpretation. Cornelius the Centurion, St. Paul, St. Patrick and St. Hildegard of Bingen were all reported to have spoken in tongues. But it is to say that the gift is not essential for all Christians. (1 Cor. 12:30). But do keep in mind that speaking in unknown prayer languages is not the same thing as speaking in known human languages on the Day of Pentecost.